Temperature dependence of the intrinsic small fatigue crack growth behavior in ni-base superalloys based on measurement of crack closure

Abstract

The effect of temperature on the small fatigue crack growth behavior of a single crystal and directionally solidified Ni-base superalloys was investigated at temperatures between 873 to 1123 K by measuring the crack closure. The results were also compared with those of the physically long crack. It was found that the propagation resistance and the fatigue threshold of the long cracks increased with temperature in all the materials. The long crack growth rates at three temperatures were approximately represented by an unique curve, after taking account of crack closure level and elastic modulus. In contrast, the small crack growth resistance decreased with temperature even when the crack closure phenomenon was taken into consideration. Furthermore, the small fatigue cracks exhibited considerably higher growth rates than the long cracks at a given effective stress intensity factor range and also grew under effective stress intensity factor ranges below the long crack threshold. The factors responsible for the lack of similitude in propagation rates between small and long cracks were also discussed, based on these observations and the chemical analysis near the crack tip using the electron probe microanalyzer.